Rain makes Ahmedabad float, paralyse traffic

Monsoon woes overflowed for Amdavadis on Sunday as heavy downpour lashed the city for around two hours, throwing normal life completely out of gear. After few showers here and there during the last week, the city witnessed very heavy thundershower, with Memnagar receiving the highest, around six inches rain within one and a half hours, submerging the whole area. The whole of city received around 15.9 mm rain, and most places of the city faced massive water logging problems.

Rains also dashed plans of the youths who were getting ready to enjoy Friendship Day as water logging in many areas made it impossible for them to freely move from one area to another. "We had plans for a small get together on Sunday evening to celebrate Friendship Day. However, we had to change our plans as four of our friends were unable to come because of water logging in their areas," said Raj Joshi, a college student from Nava Vadaj.

However, some other youngsters were seen enjoying the heavy downpour whole heartedly with their friends, while elders in many low-lying areas toiled hard to keep their homes dry.

Akhbarnagar underbridge was the worst-hit and had to be closed due to water-logging. Around 15 passengers riding a BRTS were saved as the bus got caught in the flooded underbridge. Although AMC has placed a water pump there for pumping purpose, a defunct pump turned the situation from bad to worse.

However, the monsoon control room got only four complaints of water logging from Chandranagar in Vasna, Nehrupark in Vastrapur, Ramdevnagar  and Rajpath Row Houses on the SG Highway.

The heavy downpour accompanied by strong wind, lightening and thunder on Sunday evening paralysed the Sunday evening life in the city. The intensity of rain was so high that visibility beyond 100 meter was almost reduced to nil.

Heavy rain also caused massive traffic snarls in many areas including Sardar Patel Stadium, Nehrunagar, among others. A huge cave-in near the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIM-A), has also added to the traffic woes in the West zone of the city.